Plato's Cave

What is Plato’s Simile of the Cave? How is it applicable to contemporary issues in representation?

Plato was an ancient Greek philosopher whose theories still apply to modern day situations; such was the influence and knowledge of the man. One of Plato’s most acclaimed and renowned pieces of work was his “Allegory of the Cave”, a theory which questions the very meaning of reality and existence and how we are all subject to influence and manipulation.                                                                          

Within the allegory, Plato likens us to four prisoners stuck in a cave untouched by the outside world. In the cave there is one exit behind the prisoners whom are chained up in a static position, unable to turn their heads and facing forwards at a large blank wall. They have been there since childhood and know nothing regarding the outside world; their whole perceptions and opinions on life come solely from their experiences within the cave.  Behind the men, high up at the caves’ entrance stands a fire burning at a distance, kept alight by guards. The only thing the prisoners can see is their own shadows projected onto the wall in front of them from the fire’s deep, glowing light as they are restrained and cannot move.

Between the fire and the prisoners lays a raised way with a low wall similar to that of a puppeteers’ when they perform their show. On this raised way there are the guards with a wide variety of statues and wooden animals. They hold these items up in front of the fire and their respective shadows are projected back onto the wall the prisoners are fixed staring at, it is all they can see and it is all they know. Because of this, the voices of the guards echoing around the cave lead the prisoners to believe that it is these items’ shadows producing this sound and that they must therefore be reality.  The prisoners would know nothing else other than what is presented in front of them as using their senses they wouldn’t believe otherwise as they are untouched by the outside world. They would just guess what shadow would be projected next in front of them, as it is all they know.

Plato then goes on to discuss the ramifications of one prisoner being released from his restraints and venturing up to the back of the cave where the fire is situated. The intense light the fire is emitting would burn his eyes as he is accustomed to darkness and upon viewing the statues and wooden animals, his very own perception of reality would be shattered. He would look down on the other prisoners seeing the shadows and realise that to them it is still reality, yet after breaking free himself and discovering the truth he now knows everything he perceived to be real previously was a false façade. The prisoner would then explore outside of the cave and become temporarily blinded by the natural light he has never experienced before. At first he will only look at the dark, watching shadows of the objects and people around him, but over time he will accept his new reality. He will see reflections on water of himself and his surroundings and be able to gaze into the night sky, as time goes on he will be comfortable looking at the sun and living in daylight, he will learn great logical theories, mathematics, sciences, arts; an explanation to all that precedes him. 

But imagine this man now returning to the cave after all he has learnt and seen, he couldn’t possibly go back and dismiss his whole understanding of reality. Plato states that the man is sent back to the cave and restrained just as he was before, next to the other three prisoners who haven’t moved at all and still believe the shadows presented in front of them are reality.  The fellow prisoners would ask him to predict the next shadow as they used to do yet his eyes would no longer be used to the cave’s darkness rendering him temporarily blind again and the subject of much ridicule. With all the wider knowledge and experiences the man now has, he tries to explain to the others that they are wrong, the reality is in fact outside of the cave and what they are seeing is merely an illusion. This simply leads to him becoming ridiculed further and he is told that leaving the cave has left him blind and dumb, the others cannot comprehend the thought of what they perceive as real being found out to be false and he becomes an outsider: “And if there were a contest, and he had to compete in measuring the shadows with the prisoners who had never moved out of the den, while his sight was still weak, and before his eyes had become steady...would he not be ridiculous? Men would say of him that up he went and down he came without his eyes; and that it was better not even to think of ascending”(Ibid, 517.)  With his experiences he now can no longer accept the life in the cave and wishes to venture out and broaden his horizons: “And when he remembered his old habitation, and the wisdom of the den and his fellow-prisoners, do you not suppose that he would felicitate himself on the change, and pity them?...you must not wonder that those who attain to this beatific vision are unwilling to descend to human affairs; for their souls are ever hastening into the upper world where they desire to dwell”. (Republic VII, 516)

                 

The allegory of the cave is an extended metaphor for the ignorance and knowledge of human nature and what we each believe reality to be, it is to illustrate “our nature in its education and want of education”(514a). Plato argued that we are all born with ‘complete knowledge’ yet have forgotten it and everything we learn from birth is merely remembering what we previously knew. He stated that we are all part of the universe, live within it and were created by it, so therefore we originally knew everything there is to know about everything.  

                                                                                     

The prisoners we see in the cave are a metaphor for those without knowledge and are held prisoner by their own ignorance and the shadows that they see are representative of objects in the physical world, which are only a reflection of form. The cave itself is a symbol for the limits of their universe and knowledge, and the outside world stands for truth. The fire represents the sun; its light allowing us to perceive the objects and the outer world with the shadows only signifying an appearance of true reality. When the prisoner leaves the cave, the sun outside represents “the light of the inner soul, the good which gives access to reality and truth itself”, the objects of the real world are presented in front of us physically and are not merely shadows as they are within the cave; there are no illusions, only truth.  The prisoner who breaks free and experiences the outside world assumes the role of a philosopher, someone like Plato himself who breaks free from the constraints of this limited world and perception of life and strives for further knowledge. The philosopher steps out the cave in search of the truth and questions his own reality and purpose only to return the cave as a leader, trying to enlighten the other prisoners whom signify those without knowledge. Plato therefore sees the philosopher’s role within society as one of great wisdom and that their opinion should be listened to as they are enlightening us to the truth and absolute reality.  He also talks about pitying the other prisoners; “...for surely he would pity them…” which could possibly be interpreted as Plato having a sense of superiority over his fellow man. He was a supremely respected intellect and the ego that it comes with could also stem down to his dismay at his mentor Socrates’ treatment.  Plato has been extremely critical of democratic governments and leaders alike in much of his later publications.     

                                                                          

The extended metaphor of the cave also applies to contemporary issues around today which is why Plato is widely regarded as the greatest thinkers of all time. For example the media nowadays could be portrayed as the guards and we as the general public are the prisoners. We are restrained in a sense because there is only one absolute media controlled by the “bourgeoisie” which would be the guards in this case. We cannot avoid the media whether it be radio, newspaper, TV, internet etc. and all the information we are told is similar to the shadows being projected on to the wall in the cave.  News channels tell us what they want us to hear and even though they may be reporting on facts and actual events there is a hint of bias or a slant to alter our opinions on a topic. The truth is not completely hidden but there is a sense of illusion and falseness, for example newspapers in this country often have a set political agenda so the way they report on the government is going to differ from story to story. During the general election you have one paper claiming David Cameron is the second coming and then another paper published on exactly the same date claiming he would ruin this country, how do we know what is the truth? Relating it back to Plato’s allegory, we in a sense need to break free from the restraints and leave the cave, discovering our own truths and what we perceive as right or wrong.       

Another contemporary issue that the model is applicable to is the massive global industry of advertising. For example perfume, in reality and truth is simply a liquid that has a nice fragrance, yet the adverts for perfume portray a certain lifestyle that comes with the product and evokes lustful emotions. This is the illusion, the adverts represent the wooden animals’ shadows yet outside of the cave the truth is that you’re not suddenly going to have a better quality of life and women falling at your feet from simply wearing a fragrance.  It is “a cheat and illusion” and we as the prisoners either have a choice to accept the adverts as reality or break free like the philosopher and seek the truth, but once we have discovered the truth we will never be able to return to the cave and its illusions as our eyes have been opened to the world.  

Modern day cinema is also an excellent example of the allegory in a 21^st century situation. The people who go to the cinema are sat facing a large wall similar to the prisoners and behind and above them lays a projector, representative of the fire. A film simulates reality yet really is fictional and manmade; we just perceive it as real while we are in the cinema yet we know just as the philosopher in the cave did, that the real reality and truths lay outside the cinema.